Dash control valve



May 12, 1936. J. B. WHITTED 2,040,193 n n DASH CONTROL VALVE Filed Jan.22, 1932 (52 @E azz 60 s J7/2715. Wham,

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Patented May 1,2, 1936 PATENT OFFICE DASH CONTROL VALVE John B. Whitted,Chicago, lll.,

assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Houde Engineering Corporation, Buffalo, N. YorkY., a corporation of New Application January 22, 1932, Serial No.588,060

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in an adjustable dash controlvalve for a shock absorber whereby the operator of a motor vehicle mayadjust the effect of the shock absorber in accordance with theconditions of the road over which the vehicle is traveling.4

`It is lan'object ofthe invention to provide a unitary assembly of ashock absorber controlling valve and an adjusting member for the valvewhich may be readily attached to the shock absorber.

It is further an object of the invention to provide a housing containinga pressure-operated shock absorber valve having resilient means normallyholding the valve in seated position and to provide relatively rotatable.camming members within the housing which may be adjusted from theexterior of the housing to vary the strength of the resilient meansacting upon the valve.

Further and additional objects and advantages of the presentimprovements will be more readily apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the attached drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation showing a* shock absorber mounted upon thevehicle chassis andV connected to an axle or any portion of the vehiclewhich is not' supported by the spring;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the shock absorber;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken on the plane indicated 3-3 inFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken on the plane indicated 4-4 inFigure 2 having the valves removed; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken on the plane indicated 5-5 inFigure 2.

A portion of the chassis of the vehicle is shown at IIJ. 'I'he part I2is rigid with respect to an axle of the vehicle. The shock absorberhousing I4 is secured to the chassis I0 by bolts I6. The operating armI8 of the shock absorber is connected by a link 20 to the part I2through a pivot connection 22 between the link 26 and the arm I8 and apivot connection 24 between the link 20 and the part I2. The shockabsorber has a central fluid chamber 26 and a rock shaft 28 is supportedby the walls of the shock absorber housing I4 and extends through thechamber 26. The shaft 28, at one end, is connected to the lever arm I8by nut 30. The shaft 28 within the chamber 26 has a yoke arm 32 carryinga roller 34.

The housing I4 has a cylindrical chamber closed at its ends by the caps36 and 38. A pair of pistons 46 and 42 are slidable within thecylindrical chamber and separate the ends 44 and 46 from the centralchamber 26. The shock ab- (Cl. 18S-88) sorber construction, asdisclosed, is similar to that disclosed in my co-pending application,Serial No. 582,686, iiled December 23, 1931, and it is to be understoodthat the pistons 40 and 42 are yieldably connected by spring members 48and are held in thrust engagement with the roller 34, whereby a rockablemovement of the shaft 28 serves to move the pistons simultaneously ineither direction. The pistons carry check valves 5|! and 52 Vwhich openin one direction to permit iiow of uid from the central chamber 26 tothe end chambers 44 and 46 but prevent return flow. The end chambers 44and 46 are connected by passageway 54 communicating with transversepassages 56 and 58, as shown in Figure 3. The ow of the fluid throughthe passage 54, upon movement of the pistons, is variably controlled bypressure-operated valve means and it is a feature of the presentinvention that the effectiveness of the pressure-operated valve meansmay be modified by adjustment from the exterior of the shock absorberhousing.

A housing member 60 has a reduced threaded extension 62, the threadedportion 64 of which is divided by an annular cut-away portion 66. Thehousing 60 is adapted to be threaded into a boss 68 of the shockabsorber housing, as shown in Figure 4, whereby the fluid may flow frompassage 56 into the open inner end of the housing 60 and through 'anopening 10 into the annular groove formed by the cut-away portion 66,from which the fluid may flow through the passage 54 to the opposite endof the shock absorber. The fluid may also flow in the opposite directionbut the flow of the fluid in either direction is adapted to becontrolled by pressure-operated valve means.

The inner end of the housing 60 has pressed thereinto a disk 12 havingfluid ilow 'openings 14. A disk valve 16 is positioned within thehousing 60 and adapted to seat upon a shoulder 18 through the pressureof a spring reacting between the disk member 12 and the valve 16.Pressure of the iiuid tending to flow from the right-hand end of theshock absorber to the lefthand end will tend to unseat the disk valve 16and some of the uid may flow around the marginal edges thereof. Thevalve 16 also has a central circular opening 82 through which the fluidmay ow, except as restricted by the valve stem member 84, which has aconical portion 86 protruding through the opening 82 in the valve disk16. The valve member 84 has a shoulder 88 seating upon the disk 12 andhas a guide pin 90 extending through the disk 12. The valve member 84 isguided at its outer end by a head 92 iitting within the cylindricalchamber 94 of the housing 60.

The valve member 84 is normally pressed into seated position by a spring96 which reacts at its outer end upon an adjustable head 98 which isreceived in an enlarged cylindrical portion |00 of the housing and isheld against rotation by a cross pin |02 tting into a slotted portion|04 cut through the head 98. The head 98 forms a cam member through theprovision of a V-shaped cleft |06 at its outer end and is pressedagainst a relatively rotatable V-shaped cam member |08. The cam member|08 has a stem ||0 extending through a cap member |2 which is threadedinto the open outer end of the housing 60. Suitable sealing means I4 maybe provided for preventing escape of fluid past the stem H0. The stem||0 has a serrated end H6 which may have secured thereto a lever ||8 andoperating rod |20, as diagrammatically shown in Figure 1.

It is to be understood that normally the disk valve 16 is held in seatedposition by the spring and the valve stem 84 is held in seated positionby the spring 96. Also, the slidable cam head 98 is pressed outwardly bythe spring 96 against the camming member |08 which seats against theshouldered inner end of the end cap I|2. Upon bound movement of thevehicle towards the axle, the lever arm I8 will rotate in acounter-clockwise direction thereby moving the pistons 40 and 42 towardsthe right-hand end of the shock absorber. This movement will tend toforce the fluid from the right-hand end of chamber 46 through the fluidpassage 54 into the annular groove 56 and then through the opening l0into the interior of the housing 60 Where the uid pressure will reactagainst the disk valve 76. The fluid pressure if sufcient to unseat thedisk valve 16 will cause flow of the uid around the marginal edges ofthe disk valve 16 and also through the central opening of the diskvalve. The area for ow through the central opening of the disk valvewill become increasingly greater as the disk valve is moved farther andfarther from its seat, due to the conical portion 86 on the valve stem84.

Upon rebound of the vehicle body away from the axle, the pistons Will bemoved in the opposite direction towards the left-hand end of the-shockabsorber. The disk valve 16 will be seated but the iuid pressure willtend to move the valve stem 84 against the resistance of the spring 96.In this direction of fluid low, the fluid may only flow through thecentral opening of the disk valve in accordance with the increasing areaof opening as the valve stem 84 is moved farther and farther from itsseated position. By rotating the adjustable camming member |08, theV-shaped end will enter the V-shaped cleft in the slidable head 98thereby permitting expansion of the spring 96 and decreasing the forcewhich the spring 96 exerts upon the valve stem 84. It is thereforeobvious that the operator can control the rebound vehicle movement bysuitably adjusting the camming member |08 in accordance with the roadconditions.

The lever ||8 and pull rod |20, diagrammatically indicated in Figure 1,illustrate the manner in which the operator can adjust the shockabsorber from the operator seat of the vehicle.

I claim:

l. In combination with a shock absorber hav- Ving a iuid flow passagethrough which the uid may ow in either direction, a valve disk arrangedto seat against the pressure of the iiuid in one direction, resilientmeans for normally holding said valve disk in seated position, a movablevalve stem extending through said valve disk and arranged to seatagainst the pressure of the fluid owing in the opposite direction,resilient means for normally holding said valve stem in seated positionand means adjustable from the ex- Lerior of the shock absorber forvarying the effeet of said last-mentioned resilient means.

2. In combination with a shock absorber, an adjustable control valveassembly comprising a housing having a fluid ilow passage therethrough,a valve member arranged to seat against ow of the fluid in one directiontherethrough, resilient means for holding said valve member in normallyseated position, a second valve member extending through said rst valvemember and arranged to seat against said housing in the oppositedirection from said first valve member, resilient means reacting uponsaid second valve member to hold said second valve member in normalseated posi- Ition and means adjustable from the exterior of saidhousing for varying the eiective strength of at least one of saidresilient means.

3. In combination with a shock absorber, an adjustable control valveassembly therefor comprising, a housing having a iluid flow passagetherethrough, a movable valve member within said housing cooperatingwith said fluid flow passage, a slidable abutmentmember in said housing,a compression spring reacting between said abutment member and saidvalve member and means preventing rotation of said abutment member withrespect to said housing, a removable end cap for said housing, and arotatable camming member supported by said end cap and engaging saidabutment member within said housing whereby rotation of said cammingmember will permit slidable movement of said abutment member to vary theeffective compression of said spring.

JOHN B. WHITTED.

